Old Pueblo abodes aren’t much different than Texas, Dave

The word out of Tucson is that University of Arizona’s new football recruiting coordinator has arrived and is busy looking for a house to purchase.  He’s coming from Texas, so the landscape shouldn’t appear much different.

Dave Emerick toiled under Coach Mike Leach at Texas Tech, as an assistant Athletic Director and Leach’s recruiting coordinator and “chief of staff.”   Before that, he was the program’s manager of player personnel.

Emerick got caught up in the wave of replacements that comes with a new head coach.  Tommy Tuberville has taken the reins at Tech, the school’s 14th head coach.  The Red Raiders finished last season ranked No. 21 and beat Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl.  They were one of only three schools to finish in the rankings; the others were Texas (No.2) and Nebraska (No. 14).

The addition of Emerick continues to round out the off-season staff changes in Tucson – and there have been plenty.  Last month, offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes left to take the head coaching job at Louisiana Tech.  Before that it was Mark Stoops, the Cats’ defensive guru, who left to take over as defensive coordinator at Florida State.

And Greg Brown left the University of Colorado to step in and help linebackers coach, Tim Kish, with the defense.  The two will be co-defensive coordinators.  Guess that should make Mark Stoops feel pretty good that it took two people to replace him.  Brown was the defensive passing coordinator and secondary coach at Colorado.

These defensive coaches will appreciate Emerick’s recruiting mind-set when he gets out on the trail.  He’s a firm believer in recruiting the best defensive talent, especially at the line of scrimmage.  “If you don’t have a good defensive line, you’re going to struggle on defense.  Everything starts with the defensive line,” he once told a newspaper in Texas.

Recruiting in Texas is an Emerick specialty, and the Cats recruit heavily in that state.  Which makes it interesting that Dan Buckner just transferred from the University of Texas and is enrolling in classes for the spring term at UofA.

He’s not a defensive lineman, but a great catch nonetheless.  A 6’4″ pass catcher, he caught 49 passes in two years at Texas.  He’ll have to sit out the 2010 season, but will be a welcome addition for the 2011 season.

Anything Emerick can do for the defensive end of things will surely be appreciated down Tucson way, particularly after that  33-0 loss to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl to end last year’s 8-5 season.

So find that house pronto, Dave.  You’ve got some work ahead of you.